Prophets of doom have been given a particularly rough ride by developments in the Walker Cup in recent years. And the fascinating thing is that the Americans have themselves to blame, to a significant degree, for the remarkable resilience of the British and Irish effort.

As recently as 1997 at Quaker Ridge, serious questions were raised about the viability of the event in the wake of an 18-6 thrashing. Perhaps we should have a European line-up, as had happened in the Ryder Cup, so bringing gifted Continental youngsters such as Sergio Garcia into the picture.

In the next staging, at Nairn in 1999, Britain and Ireland won by 15-9. And the same result was achieved in an historic victory at Sea Island, Georgia last weekend.

And there's nothing new in all of this, as I discovered in an intriguing editorial in the November/December 1967 issue of Irish Golf. It had to do with yet another Ryder Cup failure and an in-depth post mortem on a 15-9 defeat for the Walker Cup team that year under the playing captaincy of Joe Carr at Royal St George's, Sandwich.

Remembering that on the next staging in these islands in 1971, Britain and Ireland won by 13-11 at St Andrews, the headline "It's dying fast" seemed somewhat premature. And the piece made scathing reference to an Irish selector whom it claimed to have observed: "Who said anything about winning? Is is THAT important?" I am reminded of a poster which hung in my daughter's bedroom. It depicted the cartoon beagle "Snoopy" with battered racket, clearly at the end of his tether after being thrashed at tennis. The caption read: "It doesn't matter if you win or lose - until you lose."

With respect to Carr, the resurgence of British and Irish fortunes in 1971 owed much to the leadership of Michael Bonallack. And over the last two years, enormous credit is due to Peter McEvoy, who may deserve to be rated as probably the finest-ever captain of a Walker Cup team from these islands. But the Americans also helped.

There is no question but that the college system in the US has done wonders for European golf, both at amateur and professional levels. For instance, the University of Houston gave us Colin Montgomerie, who has been the mainstay of the Ryder Cup side in recent years, while prospective new cap Paul McGinley owes much to the University of San Diego for shaping his golfing skills.

Predictably, the influence is even more marked at amateur level. One thinks of Eoghan O'Connell and the way Wake Forest made him a formidable member of the Walker Cup side which gained an historic breakthrough at Peachtree in 1989, when he tied with Phil Mickelson. And the same can be said of other US colleges in contributing players like Luke Donald and Graeme McDowell to the cause.

A benevolent Uncle Sam? Absolutely.

"Just because you haven't heard of someone, or you don't know a guy's name, doesn't mean he can't beat anybody on any day."

Bob May, 12 months after his breathtaking, if unavailing duel with Tiger Woods for the USPGA title.